‘Golden Grads’ found friendship, romance and awesome co-op opportunities at Northeastern 50 years ago
Once a Golden Grad, always a Golden Grad. Northeastern alumni return to campus after 50 years or more
They remember using punch cards to program computers. They still know their way around a Pontiac Bonneville convertible and how riding in one made them feel on top of the world. They also cherish the way co-ops gave students a leg up in the job market all those years ago.
Despite those unique memories, what matters most to the Northeastern alumni known as “Golden Grads” are the friendships they forged when they were at Northeastern 50 or more years ago, according to members of this special group who attended the 2026 commencement.
Eric Parker, Dave Nettleton and Richard Andersen, class of ‘71, stayed such good friends after rooming together in an apartment starting sophomore year that they served as groomsmen in each others’ weddings and have taken vacations together to Cape Cod to Ireland.
Also in their group was Ken Vancisin, who couldn’t make the commencement reunion this year. They lost another roommate, Maurice Smith, to a heart attack about 20 years ago.
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A sixth member joined the Husky friendship group when Lynn (née Loudermilch) Nettleton, also Northeastern class of ‘71, dated and then married Richard.
The young nursing student was thrilled that the engineering major respected her intelligence enough to talk with her about physics. “Our first date, he explained the Doppler effect to me,” she said. Parker, a business major who was in the back seat of the car with his own date, kicked the seat to get Richard to change the subject.
The students felt pretty glamorous when a friend let them borrow his Pontiac Bonneville convertible, driving around with the wind in their hair. “We were the cat’s meow, let me tell you,” Parker said.
“The car is still filled with laughter” when the group travels together, Lynn said. Six months can go by without talking, but when they pick up the phone, it’s like they never left off, Parker said.
This year is particularly golden for Darlene Young, who is marking her Northeastern graduation and 50th wedding anniversary to Double Husky Steven Young.
The two met in the library at Dodge Hall. “It was the spring of 1974. We graduated in 1976 and got married,” Steve said in the Dell Technologies Club at Fenway Park, where the Golden Grads were seated for commencement. Steven’s degree was a master’s in public administration, following on the heels of a criminal justice degree in 1974.
Not surprisingly, the couple remembered the Boston campus fondly. Darlene, who studied speech and language pathology, said she treasured the real-world experience she got in co-op, while Steven remembered the dynamic experience of being a student in Boston. “There was always something to do,” he said.
The 1970s had some great love songs, from Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” to the Bee Gees “How Deep is Your Love,” and at Northeastern, romance was in the air as well as the air waves.
Golden Grad Ann Stewart, who was also at commencement, has been married to Northeastern trustee Shelly Stewart for 44 years, and said the two met in 1971 when she was a high school student on tour and Shelley was the tour guide. Ann, who graduated in 1976 and had a career as an administrator in the Connecticut state court system, called their meet-cute “the best thing that happened to me at Northeastern.”
Love for Northeastern was evident as Jonquil Clark, class of ‘76, celebrated her new Golden Grad status with gold face paint in addition to the traditional yellow academic robe worn by all Golden Grads.
“Northeastern prepared me to meet all of my life objectives,” said Clark, who majored in criminal justice and worked as a court administrator and mediator for the first judicial district of Pennsylvania.
Clark also has worked as a travel consultant and real estate agent. She got a master’s degree from American University, but said Northeastern was “fundamental” in building trust in her ability to accomplish her goals.
The 22 Golden Grads who attended commencement this year took part in a variety of events, including tours of the campus, a luncheon and a dinner exclusively for the class of 1976.
Bob Garland, class of ‘75, who joined his friend and classmate Marshall Feldman as a Golden Grad this year said he hasn’t been back on campus since he graduated. “I can’t believe the growth,” he said.
“I remember the computer room was a big room in the basement of (Ell Hall),” Feldman said. The students used punch cards to program data. If you “made a mistake (you) had to do it over again,” he said.
As commuter students majoring in allied health, they didn’t socialize much on campus, but developed a friendship during a co-op at a Boston hospital. Feldman said he convinced Garland to come back to campus on Wednesday and don the yellow robe with the others in their group, saying once a Golden Grad, always a Golden Grad.
